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Vietnam’s online tourism to thrive

Sapa is a must-visit destination in Vietnam. – VNA/VNS Photo Huong Thu In the modern world it just took a few clicks online and a whole world of hospitality choices appeared before her eyes. She is one of the 71 per cent of the 13 million visitors to Vietnam last year to arrange all her travel online. These are the figures released in a survey on tourists carried out by Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM). But the results also reveal as most of the online booking agents are based outside of Viet Nam, local businesses need support to keep up. “We had never experienced Airbnb abroad together so we just want to try. Staying overnight with friends in one room seemed to be fun,” she told Vietnam News. “In Sapa, as there was no Airbnb, so we chose a hotel with a beautiful mountain view through booking.com,” she said. Arriving in the nation’s capital, she booked a homestay in Hanoi via airbnb.com. Detailed information was what Bow embraced the most. Even simple things like a hairdryer in the room helped her choose where to stay. Among nearly 13 million tourists visiting Vietnam last year, Bow obviously was not the only one using Internet as a nifty gadget for preparing. Google and the Singaporean Temasek Holdings firm predict the industry’s sharp development in Southeast Asian, from US$21.6 billion in 2015 to 89.6 billion by 2025. With 50 million people having access to the internet in Vietnam, accounting for more than a half… [Read full story]